The Wolf of Wall Street: Why Does Matthew McConaughey Hum and Beat His Chest?

“The Wolf of Wall Street” is currently one of the hottest films currently sitting at number four in the box office. Throughout all the crazy scenes in the film including sex with hookers and insane antics while under the influence of quaaludes, the scene above drew my curiosity the most. What is the meaning of Matthew McConaughey’s character humming and beating his chest?

After some very minimal research, I discovered the following Quora thread and found the answer from screenwriter Ken Miyamoto:

Before certain scenes in his films like “Wolf,” McConaughey does this to relax. After five takes of that particular scene, Scorsese was ready to move on, but Leo DiCaprio asked McConaughey about his chest thumping. Leo suggested they do another take to include it and that was eventually included in the final cut.

It originates from McConaughey’s method of relaxation between scenes which he said was taken from a song called “I Do” by the late Ali Farka Toure from “Talking Timbuktu,” which Ry Cooder also collaborated on. Toure passed away in March of 2006.

With that being said, I’m totally going to do this every time I encounter stressful situations and all other young entrepreneurs should follow suit!